Unlawful Detention

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Civil

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Officials: BAUER, FLAUM, and TINDER, Circuit Judges.

Unlawful Detention

No. 14-1490 D.Z. v. Mark Buell

Where officer entitled to qualified immunity for detention of minor

“The district court did not address whether Buell arrested D.Z. or not; rather, it held that, even if an arrest took place, Buell was entitled to qualified immunity because he had arguable probable cause to effect an arrest. We agree. Buell’s pursuit of D.Z. occurred immediately after he mistakenly, but reasonably, concluded that D.Z. had evaded Golubski. He then observed D.Z. turn into the driveway of a home, get off of his bike and head to the fence, which led him to conclude that D.Z. was “cutting through the yards.” Finally, he observed D.Z. place his hands on the fence, which led him to conclude that D.Z. was going to scale it.2 Under these facts, Buell had arguable probable cause to effect an arrest. Although D.Z. was not actually trying to run from the police, Buell’s mistaken conclusion that he was does not preclude this court from finding that Buell is entitled to qualified immunity. See Edwards v. Cabrera, 58 F.3d 290, 293 (7th Cir. 1995) (“Even if probable cause is lacking with respect to [an] arrest, despite the officers’ subjective belief that they had probable cause, they are entitled to immunity as long as their belief was objectively reason- able.”). Since we find that Buell reasonably believed, based on the behavior he observed, that D.Z. was trying to evade the police, Buell is entitled to qualified immunity.”

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.